Analysis – Is Charlie Davies the solution to New England woes on offense?

By Odens Pierre Jr.                                                                                              

The New England Revolution has been looking for a striker who can score goals on a consistent basis, ever since Saer Sene’s injury from last season. This year, young phenom, Diego Fagundez has been carrying the team but the questions regarding the club’s ability to make it to the playoffs will always linger.

A couple months ago, the Revs front office brought in Juan Agudelo who had a very good start with the club until he sustained an injury  in MLS Cup action against DC United. The young star’s presence with the club will vanish with his move to Stoke City in January. Thus, the club went shopping for the striker that can take them to the playoffs. With the MLS transfer window looming; they landed former USMNT forward Charlie Davies.

Davies (27) could make his debut for the New England Revolution this Saturday against the Chicago Fire. The American striker will bring to Gillette the worldwide experiences he gained while playing in Europe for Sochaux in France, Randers FC in the Danish league, and Hammarb, a Swedish Allsvenskan club. Davis is also no stranger to the MLS as he recently played for DC United.

After 23 games this season, the team only managed to score 27 goals in league action. A mere 1.17 goal average per game. Fagundez leads the pack with 7 goals, followed by Sene and Imbogo with 3 goals apiece. Honduran Forward Jerry Bengston who was signed last year to complement Sene in the offense, has been a complete disappointment this season, his only goal this season came in the opener against the Chicago Fire. The other striker on the roster, Chad Barrett has only scored 3 goals over the last 2 seasons with LA Galaxy and New England. Finally, the injured Juan Agudelo is now an afterthought after signing his pre-contract with the Potters.

Now enters Davis whose mission is to score goals consistently, a task that many other players have failed at. One thing for sure is that the former US striker can score, his best success at the club level came with Hammarby IF when he scored 21 goals in 56 appearances in only two seasons. He had a smaller impact with Sochaux but he scored 2 goals in 10 matches. He had his share of success in the MLS as well scoring 11 goals in the 2011 season for DC United. Davies represented his national team at many levels; he has scored 4 goals in 17 matches for the senior US men team.

Davies was badly hurt when his career began to show amazing potential in a car accident before the South African World Cup. He was not able to compete in the tournament for his country, he may now have a chance to gain the support of all the American fans for another chance for a spot on the national team and prove that he is a consistent and solid striker.

We do know that he has a knack for scoring; he can be a prolific scorer if he’s in the right place with a good supporting cast. In New England, he will team up with the likes of Lee Nguyen, Diego Fagundez, Kelyn Rowe and Saer Sene most of the time to run the offense.  His effectiveness with the club will depends on how much playing time he gets from Jay Heaps and how quick he build-up a chemistry with the young nucleus Revolution players.

This  is a good move for Davies mainly because he is familiar with the New England area. He was born in Manchester, New Hampshire and attended Boston College before embarking to his wonderful professional career.